Multi-level personal hand cart

ABSTRACT

A multi-level personal utility cart includes a handle having an upper portion, opposing side portions and a lower portion, a first basket assembly including panels at the front, sides, and bottom thereof, the first basket assembly being supported by the handle, a second basket assembly including panels at the front, sides, and bottom thereof, the second basket assembly being supported by the handle, the first basket assembly being positioned atop the second basket assembly, and the first and second basket assemblies being pivotally supported to the handle, so that the first and second basket assemblies are collapsible into a compact and substantially planar structure.

This application claims priority from, and also incorporates byreference, the entire disclosure of, Provisional Patent Application Ser.No. 60/263,299 filed Jan. 22, 2001, and entitled MULTI-LEVEL PERSONALHANDCART.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to hand or utility carts used by personsfor transporting goods or personal belongings, and more particularly tocollapsible hand or utility carts having multiple levels of containmentfor holding such goods or belongings.

2. Description of the Related Art

It is well known that shopping carts, of the kind typically found insupermarkets, department stores or other such stores where consumersselect goods from in-store shelving and displays, have been used asvehicles for transporting merchandise purchased at those markets to andfrom the purchaser's automobiles. It is also well-known that manypurchasers, especially those persons who do not have automobiles or whoreside in low-income areas, are prone to using the shopping carts fortransporting their purchased goods to their residences or at the veryleast to their neighborhoods where they are able to unload theirpurchases and keep the carts in the ready for the next time it isnecessary to return to those markets.

However, the removal of shopping carts from market premises by patronsor shoppers is a situation that has not been met with great favor, bothin the industry and in the community, and a multitude of solutions forpreventing the removal of such carts from the market premises have beendevised. Among those currently most favored by the industry areelectronically triggered devices which cause the wheels of the cart tolock up when the cart is pushed or otherwise moved past a pre-installedboundary, which typically takes the form of a buried electronicallytriggering cable disposed about the perimeter of the market's parkinglot or premises.

Examples of such systems are embodied in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,054,923 and6,271,755 issued to Prather et al. Those patents disclose a shoppingcart system that incorporates a disabling mechanism that renders thecart's swivel wheels inoperative upon actuation of a disabling signalfrom the cable. The '755 patent further teaches a shopping cartdisabling system which, when triggered, makes available only a pair ofwheels that enables movement of the cart, but only in a circulardirection. The object of that invention is to make it impossible for aperson to remove the cart from the store's premises by rolling it away.

Other theft thwarting systems have been developed and are well known, asthat taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,717,225 to Rashbaum, which discloses apiston rod and wheel lock device that includes a frame mounted actuatorthat locks one of the wheels of the cart upon actuation via a disablingsignal, and various electronically actuated wheel locking devices, asexemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,290 to Moreno, U.S. Pat. No.6,127,927 to Durban et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,037,869 to Lace, and U.S.Pat. No. 6,125,972 to French et al.

In furtherance of one of the objectives of this invention to preventshopping cart removal from a market's premises, the present inventionoffers shoppers a shopper-propelled mobile device for transportingpurchased goods from the market to their homes. Concurrent with thisaim, the invention embraces a scheme that rewards shoppers for using themobile device of the invention for transporting purchased goods homeinstead of removing the market's shopping carts from the market'spremises for that purpose.

Personal carts for transporting groceries or other personal items havebeen in use for some time. Typically, such personal carts have a singlebasket or container supported on or atop a wheeled base, and mayadditionally be able to be collapsed or otherwise folded to reduce thevolume for storage when not in use.

Personal carts have also been developed which can be collapsed or foldedso as to be easily storable. Examples of such carts are shown in U.S.Pat. No. 4,339,141 to Thiboutot and U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,848 to Holtz.

And in an effort to enable a shopper to transport increased amounts ofgoods from the store to the shoppers home or other destination, shoppingcarts with more than a single basket or container have been developed.For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,181 to Ondrasik shows a conventionalshopping cart frame on which are mounted stepped, offset, baskets, U.S.Pat. No. 4,047,724 to Shaffer shows a collapsible utility cart having aplurality of detachable baskets and stair-climbing capabilities, andU.S. Pat. No. D407,882 to Duchene teaches a shopping cart having a framethat is designed for supporting two removable baskets, one atop theother.

The foregoing carts are intended for use in the market and about themarket premises. No personal carts are known which are designed for useby the shopper outside of the market premises, and which are alsocollapsible for storage and have multiple baskets for transportingpurchased goods from the market to the purchaser's home.

The preceding examples of carts and personal carts also have limitationsas far as their carrying capabilities for purchased goods, and it isclear that there is a need for a personal cart that has significantlygreater storage capacity, as for example one which has more than onestorage compartment, where the contents of each storage compartment areeach uniquely accessible and which will enable shoppers who havepurchased their goods to transport their goods from the market to theirhome in a single trip without the use of motor vehicles. Such a cartmust also be collapsible so that storage of the collapsed cart isfacilitated as well. The present invention provides a solution to such aneed for the shopper as well as the market.

There is also a need for such a cart to be sufficiently inexpensive tothe shopper so that the shopper will be induced to acquire the cart inadvance of shopping at the market. The present invention contemplates aplan or method for providing carts to the shoppers that benefits notonly the shoppers, but the markets and vendors of the markets as well.This method contemplates the sale of the carts to the shoppers withsubsequent rebates or discounts running to the shoppers for products orservices offered by vendors of the markets as rewards to the shoppersfor having purchased the carts.

In one aspect of the invention, there is provided a multi-level personalutility cart including a frame with a handle having a rearwardlypositioned upper portion, side portions, and a forwardly extending lowerportion, a first basket assembly pivotably supported to the frame, asecond basket assembly disposed atop the first basket assembly andpivotably supported to the frame, where the first and second basketassemblies are simultaneously pivotable on the frame toward the handleupper portion so that the first and second basket assemblies can becollapsed against a portion of the frame into a compact andsubstantially planar structure.

In another aspect of the invention, a hand-propelled or pushed personalshopping cart is provided which includes multiple levels of storagewithin corresponding multiple, yet separate, storage chambers, withindependent access to each chamber.

In another aspect of the invention, a personal shopping cart is providedwhich is collapsible, inexpensive to manufacture, and inexpensive to ownas well.

In yet another aspect of the invention, the shopping cart is easilystorable in its collapsed condition.

In still another aspect of the invention, the shopping cart will enableshoppers to own and possess a very affordable personal shopping cartwith which they can take to their local shopping market, and into whichthey can load their purchased goods for subsequent check-out and thentransport to their respective residences.

In still another aspect of the invention, a method for deterring theftof “conventional” shopping carts is provided in which shoppers areencouraged to use the “non-conventional” carts of the invention whichare sold to the shoppers by markets, and discounts or rebates are madeavailable to the shoppers by vendors who advertise and promote theirgoods and/or services available at the shopping markets.

Various objects, advantages and features of the invention will becomemore apparent, as will equivalent structures which are intended to becovered herein, with the teaching of the principles of the invention inconnection with the disclosure of the preferred embodiments thereof inthe specification, claims and drawings in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the personal shopping cart of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the personal shopping cart of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is a enlarged view of the section marked “3” in FIG. 1 showingthe mounting of a caster to the personal shopping cart of the invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the section marked “4” in FIG. 1 showingthe handle and slide elements of the personal shopping cart of theinvention;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the section marked “5” in FIG. 4 showingdetails of a slide element and handle of the personal shopping cart ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6 shows a front perspective view of the personal shopping cart ofthe invention, where the cart is in a partially collapsed state;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the personal shopping cart of the invention ina fully collapsed state; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the cart of the invention in a fullycollapsed state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following description is provided to enable any person skilled inthe art to make and use the invention and sets forth the best modescontemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention. Variousmodifications, however, will remain readily apparent to those skilled inthe art, since the generic principles of the present invention have beendefined herein specifically to provide a personal hand cart havingmultiple levels of storage compartments, while also being collapsiblefor storage.

Referring now to the drawings, and specifically first to FIG. 1, thepersonal cart 10 of the present invention, shown in a functional openedposition, is seen to include an upper container or basket assembly 12and a lower container or basket assembly 14. The upper basket assembly12 is disposed atop the lower basket assembly 14, and the basketassemblies are capable of being pivoted into a partially functionalposition (as shown in FIG. 6) or a fully non-functional position (asshown in FIGS. 7 and 8).

A handle 16 includes an upper handle portion 18, a lower handle portion20, and side portions 22, 23 extending between and interconnecting theupper and lower handle portions. Preferably, the side portions 22, 23are disposed on the exterior of the upper basket assembly 12 and thelower basket assembly 14. Preferably, the upper handle portion 18 andthe lower handle portion 20 are both U-shaped, with the upper handleportion 18 being located atop and rearwardly of the cart, and the lowerhandle portion 20 being located at the lower region of the front of thecart. The U-shaped upper handle portion includes arms 19 which extendfrom the bight of the upper handle portion downwardly and forwardly tointerconnect with the upper portions of the side portions 22, 23. TheU-shaped lower handle portion 20 includes arms 21 that extend rearwardlyand preferably horizontally from the bight of the lower handle portion20 outside of the lower basket assembly 14 to interconnect with thelower portions of the respective side portions 22, 23 at the forwardregion of the cart. Casters 24, 24′ are supported at the underside ofthe lower handle portion 20 at and below the intersection of theforwardmost portion of each of the arms 21 of the lower handle portionand the lateral extremities of the bight portion of the lower handleportion. The casters may be mounted directly to the lower handle portionas shown in FIG. 3, or they may be mounted to reinforcement plates (notshown) fixedly secured to the underside of the lower handle portion.Further, the casters on the front of the cart are preferably swivelcasters (as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3) or they may be fixed, non-swiveling,casters.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, a slide element 32 is carried by theupper portion of each of the side portions 22, 23 of the handleassembly. Each respective slide element 32 is positioned at the locationof the merger of the upper handle portion arms 19, 19 and the sideportions 22, 23. Each of the slide elements 32 comprise a U-shapedmember having opposing arms 34, 35 which are secured together at therear of the side portions 22, 23. The interior of each of the slideelements 32 is configured as a cylindrical channel that closely fitsabout the circumference of the handle side portion where the slideelement is mounted. As a result of this construction, each of the slideelements can ride down and up along the handle side portion on which itis carried whenever the cart is opened or closed, respectively.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, the protruberance or button 100 is seen to be locatedat the uppermost portion of each of the side members of the handleassembly against which the slide elements 32 will abut when they slideupwardly along the handle side portions 22, 23 upon opening of the cart.A lock 35 carried by each of the slide elements 32 can be snapped overthe button 100 to secure each slide member in the position shown in FIG.1, wherein the cart is held in an opened, functional, position. Eachlock 35 (each being carried by one of the slide elements 32) is attachedto a respective slide element 32, and may comprise a loop of wire or ahook pivoted to the slide member 32 for motion about a substantiallyhorizontal axis. The lock 35 is used to secure the slide element 32 towhich it is attached at a fixed location on the side members 22, 23 bypivoting the lock 35 about the horizontal axis up over the button 100located on the respective side member. In this manner, the lock 35 keepsthe slide element 32 from moving relative to the side member on which itis supported when the cart has been opened, thereby locking the cart ina fully opened position and preventing accidental closure of the cartwhen the cart contains goods.

As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, an elongated slender member 44 a spans thedistance between, and is supported by, the two slide members 32. A pairof spaced apart, parallel, substantially vertical support members 42, 43extend downwardly from the elongated member 44 a adjacent to the slideelements 32. Each support member is associated with a respective one ofthe slide elements 32. The length of the support members 42, 43 ispreferably chosen to be greater than the combined height of the upperand lower basket assemblies 12, 14. A plurality of other horizontalsupport elements 44 b, 44 c, . . . extend parallel to one another andbetween the support members 42, 43 at vertically spaced locationsdownwardly to just below the rearwardly extending horizontal arms 21, 21of the lower handle member 20. Similarly, several vertically disposed,spaced apart, and parallel slender elements 45 a, 45 b, 45 c areprovided for supporting engagement with the horizontal support elements44 a, 44 b, . . . . The horizontal support elements 44 a, 44 b, . . .form, along with the support members 42, 43, a grillwork or latticeworkpanel, which functions as the rear panel R, for the upper and lowerbasket assemblies 12, 14 An axle member 46 is supported by the lowermostportion of the vertical support elements 42, 43, located preferablybelow the plane of the floor panel of the lower basket assembly 14. Theaxle member 46 extends laterally between the support members 42, 43 andcarries casters 67 on end portions of the axle member 46.

Each of the upper and lower basket assemblies comprise front, side, andbottom panels. Preferably, each of the front and bottom panels comprisea grillwork or latticework of slender elongated elements 49, 50 (such aswires as shown in the Figures, or thin rods; however, the presentinvention also contemplates forming the panels from solid sheets ofmaterial with wires or pin-like projections extending from the front andrear of the side panels so as to form a structure similar to the sidepanels shown in the Figures of the drawings). The slender elements 47 ofthe side panels of the basket assemblies extend from front to rear, andare attached to the front and rear panels of the upper and lower basketassemblies of the cart. When either the top or bottom basket assembly isin an erected state (as shown in FIG. 1), the slender elements 47 areparallel to one another and arranged substantially horizontally. Theends of each slender element 47 in each of the side panels of the upperand lower baskets are formed into loop 48 (as are the front and rear endof each element 49 of the upper and lower basket assembly floor panels)which, at the rear end thereof, is hooked about and pivotable on ahorizontal element extending laterally between the support elements 42,43, and at the forward end thereof is hooked about and pivotable on ahorizontal elements 52 a, 52 b, . . . extending laterally between thesupport elements 42, 43. The pivoting connections function in such amanner that, after the cart has been opened as shown in FIG. 1, thebasket assemblies are permitted to pivot upwardly and rearwardly aboutthe horizontal elements 44 a, 44 b, 44 c . . . and thereby effectcollapse of the basket assemblies, either the upper basket assemblyalone to achieve a partially collapsed state (as shown in FIG. 6), orthe two basket assemblies together to achieve a fully collapsed state(as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8). Each of the upper and lower basketassemblies are independently able to be pivoted upwardly and rearwardlyto effect collapse of the two basket assemblies, but the lower basketassembly cannot be collapsed separately from, or before collapse of, theupper basket assembly. The upper and lower basket assemblies can besimultaneously pivoted into a collapsed state (as shown in FIGS. 7 and8) so as to effect collapse of the entire personal cart for purposes ofstorage of the cart.

The rear panel R of the cart assumes a substantially verticalorientation when the cart has been fully opened and is seated on theground on its four casters. The rear panel includes a pair of spacedapart hook elements 53, 54 located on the upper panel portion U topermit suspension of the cart, when completely collapsed, from astructural support (not shown), such as the upper front rail of aconventional shopping cart, a horizontally extending suspension member,suspension elements secured to a wall, etc.

Indicia bearing signs (not shown) can be attached to the front panelportions of the upper and lower basket assemblies. Preferably, the signsare held in sign frames, such as frame 212 seen in the Figures,preferably of square or rectangular configuration. The sign frame 212 issecured to the front panel of the upper basket assembly for holding asign or a tag that identifies a product or service provider whoseproducts or services are offered in markets. Attached to the front panelof the lower basket assembly are signs 214 for identifying the owner ofthe cart and the store from which the cart was purchased.

The present invention contemplates a method for deterring theft of“conventional” shopping carts which entails the sale of personal cartsof a type similar to those described herein to customers by the marketsor by third party cart vendors (as for example, vendors who can sell thecarts directly to the customer either in the markets or through separatestorefronts).

The vendors of services or goods will pay the market a fee for themarket to supply vendor product advertising or event promotions or otheradvertising on a tag or card held in the sign frame 212 on thecustomer's personal cart. The market's vendors then supplies to thecustomers discount or rebate coupons for vendor supplies or servicescurrently available in or at the market, for future purchases of vendorsupplies or services, or for promotional give-aways. In a reasonablyshort period of time, the discounts or rebates given to the customer viathe coupons will add up to the cost of the cart, and all discounts orrebates thereafter made available to the customer run toward developingan increasing “value” component attributable to ownership of the cart.

Moreover, by making such personal carts available for purchase to thecustomer, the markets can reduce their own in-store inventories ofconventional shopping carts. And now, with recent state and municipallegislation being passed or at least being considered for the impositionof fines on markets whose carts are not maintained at the premises ofthe markets, a program such as the one outlined above would not onlyresult in fewer carts being removed from the markets premises bycustomers, but also an improvement in the appearance of the surroundingcommunity.

As seen in the Figures, a locking element 62 is provided on the upperhorizontal element of the rear panel R. The element 62 has grippinggrooves at opposite ends thereof. One of the grooves grip onto element44 a. The other groove can be releasably secured onto a horizontalelement in the bottom panel of the upper basket assembly when the upperbasket assembly only is pivoted into a collapsed position as shown inFIG. 6. When the cart is in this partially collapsed position, goodscontained in the lower basket assembly can be accessed. The cart canalso be used with the upper basket assembly in a collapsed and securedposition when the customer's purchased goods in the lower basketassembly are taller than the height of the lower basket assembly.

Inverted U-shaped hooks 72, formed as extensions of the front panel ofthe upper basket assembly, extend below the floor panel of the upperbasket assembly to sit one the upper horizontal element of the lowerbasket assembly to facilitate support of the upper basket assembly onthe lower basket assembly.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adoptions andmodifications of the invention as described above can be configuredwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore,it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims,the invention may be practiced other than as specifically describedherein.

1. A multi-level personal utility cart, comprising: a frame including ahandle having a rearwardly positioned upper portion, side portions, anda forwardly extending lower portion, a first basket assembly having aportion pivotably secured to said frame, a second basket assemblydisposed atop the first basket assembly and pivotably secured to saidframe, said first and second basket assemblies being simultaneouslypivotable on said frame toward said handle upper portion so that saidfirst and second basket assemblies can be collapsed against a portion ofsaid frame into a compact and substantially planar structure, and accessto said first basket assembly, when both baskets are opened, beingobtained only by collapse of said second basket assembly.
 2. Themulti-level personal utility cart of claim 1, and further includingwheels supported on said lower handle portion.
 3. The multi-levelpersonal utility cart of claim 2, wherein said wheels are swivel wheelsand are spaced apart from one another.
 4. The multi-level personalutility cart of claim 2, wherein said frame further includes a verticalsupport member depending from said handle portion, and a second set ofwheels supported on said support members.
 5. The multi-level personalutility cart of claim 1, wherein said first basket assembly is supportedon said lower portion of said handle.
 6. The multi-level personalutility cart of claim 1, wherein said first and second basket assemblieseach includes panels at the front, sides, and bottom thereof, saidsecond basket assembly further being supported by said first basketassembly.
 7. The multi-level personal utility cart of claim 6, whereinsaid handle includes U-shaped segments at the upper and lower portionsthereof, said U-shaped segments connecting opposing sides of saidhandle.
 8. The multi-level personal utility cart of claim 6, whereinsaid front side and bottom panels of upper and lower basket assembliesare substantially planar elements.
 9. The multi-level personal utilitycart of claim 8, wherein said substantially planar elements arecomprised of wires in a grillwork configuration.
 10. The multi-levelpersonal utility cart of claim 6, wherein said frame includes tagholders on the front panel of first and second basket assemblies forsupporting indicia-bearing tags.
 11. The multi-level personal utilitycart of claim 1, wherein said frame includes a grillwork backbone andvertically extending, parallel support members, said backbone extendinglaterally between said support members and forming the rear panel foreach of said upper and lower basket assemblies.
 12. The multi-levelpersonal utility cart of claim 6, wherein said frame includes slidemembers slidably supported on said side portions of said handle, saidslide members supporting therebetween a grillwork backbone panel whichforms the back panel of the first and second basket assemblies when thecart is fully open.
 13. The multi-level personal utility cart of claim12, wherein each of said side portions of said handle include a lockingprotruberance, and each of the slide members include a lock adapted toengage the locking protuberance to hold a respective slide member in asecure, fixed, location on the side portion of the handle on which theslide member is supported.
 14. The multi-level personal utility cart ofclaim 1, wherein said frame includes dip elements carried by firstbasket assembly for securing second basket assembly to the first basketassembly, said clip elements being releasably secured to the front of atleast the second basket assembly.
 15. The multi-level personal utilitycart of claim 1, wherein said frame includes parallel hook members on aportion thereof for suspending the cart, when the cart is collapsed. 16.The multi-level personal utility cart of claim 1, wherein said first andsecond basket assemblies are comprised of wire grillwork.